The No. 3-ranked Karolina Pliskova says that she is very pleased that her twin sister, Kristyna Pliskova, has lifted her ranking and the two are now playing more of the same tournaments.
While Karolina has vaulted into the Top 5, Kristyna began 2016 ranked No. 117, and is currently ranked No. 58.
Karolina is playing in Doha this week, while her sister lost in the second round of qualifying. Karolina won both of her Fed Cup matches for the Czech Republic coming into Doha.
“It's good to have someone on the tour so close to you—I mean, like, my sister,” Karolina said. “There is no one closer to me on the tour, so I don't need any other friends than her. We always talk about everything; not only about tennis, but about all the other stuff around tennis. Yes, unfortunately she was in qualies here. She's in qualies in Dubai. It's still not that we see each other that often, but it's better than before.
"Now we are in the same tournaments, but different hotels ... But definitely she's going to Indian Wells [and] Miami, so there's going to be more chances.”
Karolina reached the final of the 2016 U.S. Open, upsetting Venus and Serena Williams before going down to Angelique Kerber 6-4 in the third. She then changed coaches in the offseason and won the WTA event in Brisbane. But at the Australian Open, she was upset in the quarterfinals by Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, going down 6-4, 3-6 6-4. The 6' 1” Czech says, despite that, she is improving all the time, even if she is still not fast enough.
“I think my tennis improved so much in [the] last year,” she said. “I had some good matches last year.
“...Obviously my best year so far, ending with this final of [a] Grand Slam in [the] U.S. Open. Unfortunately [I] lost to Angie, but still was a really good tournament for me. Since then I think I still improve [a] little bit. I'm trying to improve my game. I change coach, so [a] few new things. My movement actually is the worst part of the game, but still improving. Everything is going well, so far.”
David Kotyza is coaching Karolina Pliskova.